Krueger, Kirsten. 1987. Prairie Dog Overpopulation: Value Judgement or Ecological Reality? Eighth Great Plains Wildlife Damage Control Workshop. pp. 39-45.

Abstract

A general model deliniating four classes of overpopulation was proposed by Caughley (1981) to clarify the ecological and nonecological values upon which judgement of overpopulation are based. In this paper I use Caughley's model as a framework for a discussion of prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) overpopulation, within which I evaluate the reasons for such judgements in each of several cases. A purely ecological (class 4) judgement of overpopulation applies where prairie dogs cause a change in the typical dynamics and interactions of the plant-animal-soil system, and its structural and functional properties, to the extent that the system approaches or exceeds its boundaries, and is significantly altered from its initial condition. While all classes of overpopulation involve some ecological components, the three remaining classes subsume conflicts where the primary values (e.g., social and economic values) responsible for a judgement of overpopulation are nonecological.